Wednesday, June 13, 2012

I Did It! Series: Pillow Pad from Twin Sheet

Perhaps I'm the only one, but I find myself looking at crafty projects, much more than doing crafty projects. It has gotten even worse with my addiction to Pinterest.

Well, the looking stops NOW and the doing begins TODAY. Over the next
few weeks I'll be featuring projects I've actually completed instead of
just "pinned." I'm calling it my I Did It! Series and I hope you'll join me!

My first project was inspired by this pin:

It's a fairly popular pin, I'm sure you've seen it. Other pinners suggested sewing five pillow cases together. I didn't have five pillow cases, but did have a flat, twin sheet that I had as a kid.

I was obsessed with Jasmine. Luckily, so is my little girl!

How-To Make a Pillow Pad from a Twin Sheet:

Step One: Lay your sheet flat with the wrong side up. Fold one side of your sheet over a little more than half way. Fold the other side over the top of the first until it is size of a standard pillow. Mine turned out to be 29 inches wide. Pin the folds in place.

Step Two: Measure and mark every 19 inches down the sheet (more or less according to the size of your pillows). Sew all the way across, making pockets for the pillows. My sheet was long enough to make four pillow pockets. When you reach the bottom, tuck the raw edges under, pin together and sew it up. I added a pillowcase at the top to make a total of five pillow pockets.

Alternative to Step One and Two: For a cleaner bottom edge, lay your sheet face up and overlap the wrong sides of the fabric. Sew the bottom edge. Turn right side out and measure, mark and sew every 19 inches. By the time I figured this out I had already sewn in my other pockets and couldn't turn it inside out :)

Step Three: Fill the shams with pillows!

I think five pillows are too many, especially for a toddler, but I like folding the pad up to form a little seat.

Little E loves hanging out and watching "Super Why" on the Kindle or reading books with me.

I think the project was a success, and I think this would make a really fun gift. My favorite part is how easy it will be to clean. Take the pillows out and throw in the wash!

This is adorable and I can't wait to make one for all 3 of my kids! I have a quick question--how did you close up the bottom of the sheet? It doesn't look like you just sewed across the bottom edge--it looks really clean and neat :) Thanks!

Michelle- good question! I should have explained that better. If I would have been smart, I would have measured and marked my four, 19 inch pockets and then turned it inside out and sewn up the bottom.

BUT I didn't think that far ahead so I folded the bottom's raw edge under, pinned both the top and bottom together and sewed it shut.

I don't think it looks bad, but next time I will flip it inside out before I sew all of the horizontal seams.

Great tutorial! I have seen them made from yardage, but not from a sheet. This is so much easier!I'll be making one for my son and also for my niece and nephew who are visiting. I'll post on my blog with a link to you. Thanks for the wonderful instructions!

I made 3 of these for my kids for Christmas of 2011 and they have LOVED them. I made them just the way you described (including sewing the wrong sides on the bottom first), but without the pillow case--which was a brilliant addition by the way. After having them as long as they have had them my only suggestion would be to add in some sort of ribbon sewn in at the bottom of one along with another ribbon onto another so that they could be tied like a sleeping bag when stored.